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Topic: Margin price estimation of USB Block Erupter (Read 3395 times)

sr. member
Activity: 308
Merit: 250
So maybe $4 for all components, excluding the bitcoin ASIC? That puts the total margin price at $10 per stick.

id probably say about $15 total to include manufacturing and all the background stuff maybe testing to but yeh Avalon are really screwing people over for these but does that really surprise anyone the company with the least amount of resorses managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat and are quite welcome to make as much profit as they can out of it

and there still the only really player in the market thanks to all these idiots that have let the projects die or tried to over design things like BFL

Avalons strategy of going with more chips for the price of power worked they required far less design and where much much easier to get made.... they also went with china to make the things which in my books on getting the things to market will beat anything made in the EU or USA by months

ill give it to the chine's when it comes to building and getting it done fast there the ones to go with

These block erupters are from ASICMINER not Avalon btw.

Add a cute 40mm silent fan; http://www.quietpc.com/nf-a4x10

and dont forget the power there already on the very edge of usb 2 capability to get more power they would have to go usb 3 or even external power sources...

Those are 0.6w at 12v (50ma!), they'll draw even less at 5v (USB spec is 5v*500ma=2.5w); you could run at least 10 off a standard USB socket!
legendary
Activity: 1540
Merit: 1002
You guys don't have idea, they are good Samaritans and are doing wonders for the network. We should all support them  Tongue

At times, they were making some 230$ on 250$ product. And morons were lining all over the forum to send them the money, lol

They+re worse than BFL. BFL offered great opportunity to people but fucked it up in the process (though being utter twats in the process too), these guys were and are deliberately and cold blooded fucking up bitcoin community.

i actually respect asicminer for beating everyone to market by a hell of a gap... maybe bfl could learn something but that said they are still expensive for what they are but that happens when your only other real competition mess up so many times

if i knew bfl where going to be this far off the deadline i would have gone into the race with myself..... or maybe designed a super fpga with a few arm chips or cyclone chips
full member
Activity: 177
Merit: 100
From their website:

"2,000 Bitcoins have been reserved for the re-investment:

1. Deposits for the long-term pre-order of hard-to-get ICs.
2. Costs of mass production of Block Erupter USB sticks."



So perhaps it took around 250k USD to start, not sure how many they've sold so far and how many they will sell.  On my customs declaration form for their shipment, they wrote a value of $99 ea for test pcb boards.  It doesn't mean anything, but it's interesting nonetheless. 

With the 282mh open source usb sticks at around $30/ea on the horizon, they're ahead of the curve with their new pricing.  Maybe they just had to move a massive load asap.
legendary
Activity: 2772
Merit: 1028
Duelbits.com
You guys don't have idea, they are good Samaritans and are doing wonders for the network. We should all support them  Tongue

At times, they were making some 230$ on 250$ product. And morons were lining all over the forum to send them the money, lol

They+re worse than BFL. BFL offered great opportunity to people but fucked it up in the process (though being utter twats in the process too), these guys were and are deliberately and cold blooded fucking up bitcoin community.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
ASICminer appreciates your continued donations.


It's like scamming, but without scamming!
full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
ASICminer appreciates your continued donations.
hero member
Activity: 529
Merit: 500
Just being a little nitty here but there is a substantial difference between mark up and gross (profit) margin.  While it doesn't change your end result in this case as I assume most people understand your meaning, technically there is a big difference.  FYI it is impossible to have 100% gross profit margin unless your cost of goods is zero, it is also impossible to have more than a 100% gross margin.

Good point, I changed the OP.
legendary
Activity: 1764
Merit: 1756
Verified Bernie Bro - Feel The Bern!
I've been trying to estimate the margin cost for ASICMINER to produce the USB Block Erupter.

Given that the processing unit that is placed on the stick has similar characteristics to Avalons chips, I'm assuming the cost per chip is also similar. Avalon are selling their chips for BTC0,078 per chip, but I don't know what profit margin they are using at that. Let's assume 100%. That means the margin price per chip is BTC0,039, ~4 US$.

The chip is not the only thing on the stick, but the other components are very cheap. Say $1 for the rest of the components, $1 for the PCB and $1 for the manufacturing process. That's a total of $7 per stick.

Thoughts? If you have any other way of estimating the margin cost, please post it in this thread.
Just being a little nitty here but there is a substantial difference between mark up and gross (profit) margin.  While it doesn't change your end result in this case as I assume most people understand your meaning, technically there is a big difference.  FYI it is impossible to have 100% gross profit margin unless your cost of goods is zero, it is also impossible to have more than a 100% gross margin.
legendary
Activity: 1540
Merit: 1002
0.3BTC is a fair price for these. 0.5BTC with a board populated with 4 chips would be better for everyone!
Unfortunately the heat produced by one asic chip is already too much.

Add a cute 40mm silent fan; http://www.quietpc.com/nf-a4x10

and dont forget the power there already on the very edge of usb 2 capability to get more power they would have to go usb 3 or even external power sources...
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
0.3BTC is a fair price for these. 0.5BTC with a board populated with 4 chips would be better for everyone!
Unfortunately the heat produced by one asic chip is already too much.

Add a cute 40mm silent fan; http://www.quietpc.com/nf-a4x10
PeZ
sr. member
Activity: 297
Merit: 250
0.3BTC is a fair price for these. 0.5BTC with a board populated with 4 chips would be better for everyone!
Unfortunately the heat produced by one asic chip is already too much.
hero member
Activity: 529
Merit: 500
ASICs using existing tech are generally between $0.5-$2 per chip dependant on order volume.

Is it safe to assume that the marginal cost of the ASIC used is $2 or less?
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
I think you are a little low.

Things you did not consider:

PCB price to design, build and mass produce.
Fabrication cost of device (assembly, attach heat sink/case)
Fabrication of heat sink and case
Cost to print pretty logo on case

Here is my best guess:

ASIC chip:         $7
Other chips:      $4
PCB/USB Plug:  $3
Case/Heatsink   $3
Assembly           $2
Packaging          $1

Total price $20 out the door.

Many knuckleheads on this website and Ebay paid (and are still paying) $230 USD  (1000%+ markup) on this item

What is even funnier is at $20 a stick the people making these are sticking them in USB hubs at $20 a pop and mining 50-100Gh for about $60 a GH which is pretty reasonable for delivery today.

Disagree their chip isn't new enough tech to demand such a high price especially after NRE has long since been covered. They are paying a lot less than $7 for 300mh/s.

Fair enough, then it may be $17 out the door.

0.3BTC is a fair price for these. 0.5BTC with a board populated with 4 chips would be better for everyone!
hero member
Activity: 529
Merit: 500
Things you did not consider:

PCB price to design, build and mass produce.

Research, design costs and so on aren't included in marginal cost. Here's a definition:
Quote
In economics and finance, marginal cost is the change in the total cost that arises when the quantity produced changes by one unit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginal_cost

Still, you might be right that I'm a little low on the marginal cost.
hero member
Activity: 854
Merit: 500
I think you are a little low.

Things you did not consider:

PCB price to design, build and mass produce.
Fabrication cost of device (assembly, attach heat sink/case)
Fabrication of heat sink and case
Cost to print pretty logo on case

Here is my best guess:

ASIC chip:         $7
Other chips:      $4
PCB/USB Plug:  $3
Case/Heatsink   $3
Assembly           $2
Packaging          $1

Total price $20 out the door.

Many knuckleheads on this website and Ebay paid (and are still paying) $230 USD  (1000%+ markup) on this item

What is even funnier is at $20 a stick the people making these are sticking them in USB hubs at $20 a pop and mining 50-100Gh for about $60 a GH which is pretty reasonable for delivery today.

Disagree their chip isn't new enough tech to demand such a high price especially after NRE has long since been covered. They are paying a lot less than $7 for 300mh/s.

Fair enough, then it may be $17 out the door.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
I think you are a little low.

Things you did not consider:

PCB price to design, build and mass produce.
Fabrication cost of device (assembly, attach heat sink/case)
Fabrication of heat sink and case
Cost to print pretty logo on case

Here is my best guess:

ASIC chip:         $7
Other chips:      $4
PCB/USB Plug:  $3
Case/Heatsink   $3
Assembly           $2
Packaging          $1

Total price $20 out the door.

Many knuckleheads on this website and Ebay paid (and are still paying) $230 USD  (1000%+ markup) on this item

What is even funnier is at $20 a stick the people making these are sticking them in USB hubs at $20 a pop and mining 50-100Gh for about $60 a GH which is pretty reasonable for delivery today.

Disagree their chip isn't new enough tech to demand such a high price especially after NRE has long since been covered. They are paying a lot less than $7 for 300mh/s, as are Avalon.
hero member
Activity: 854
Merit: 500
I think you are a little low.

Things you did not consider:

PCB price to design, build and mass produce.
Fabrication cost of device (assembly, attach heat sink/case)
Fabrication of heat sink and case
Cost to print pretty logo on case

Here is my best guess:

ASIC chip:         $7
Other chips:      $4
PCB/USB Plug:  $3
Case/Heatsink   $3
Assembly           $2
Packaging          $1

Total price $20 out the door.

Many knuckleheads on this website and Ebay paid (and are still paying) $230 USD  (1000%+ markup) on this item

What is even funnier is at $20 a stick the people making these are sticking them in USB hubs at $20 a pop and mining 50-100Gh for about $60 a GH which is pretty reasonable for delivery today.
legendary
Activity: 1540
Merit: 1002
So maybe $4 for all components, excluding the bitcoin ASIC? That puts the total margin price at $10 per stick.

id probably say about $15 total to include manufacturing and all the background stuff maybe testing to but yeh Avalon are really screwing people over for these but does that really surprise anyone the company with the least amount of resorses managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat and are quite welcome to make as much profit as they can out of it

and there still the only really player in the market thanks to all these idiots that have let the projects die or tried to over design things like BFL

Avalons strategy of going with more chips for the price of power worked they required far less design and where much much easier to get made.... they also went with china to make the things which in my books on getting the things to market will beat anything made in the EU or USA by months

ill give it to the chine's when it comes to building and getting it done fast there the ones to go with
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
ASICs using existing tech are generally between $0.5-$2 per chip dependant on order volume.

They are making a tidy profit on anything above a $10.
hero member
Activity: 529
Merit: 500
So maybe $4 for all components, excluding the bitcoin ASIC? That puts the total margin price at $10 per stick.
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